


Aster and Alec

by VicenteValtieri



Series: A Thousand Lives Unlived [5]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Albuuerque, Home making, Lots of Albuquerque, M/M, Mistaken Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-06 12:44:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 14,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12211560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VicenteValtieri/pseuds/VicenteValtieri
Summary: Alone near Valle del Fuego, Starscream makes a discovery that will change his life forever.Warning: Before you read this, you should go to my Role playing Fanfiction series and read Bring Back the Child because this story is pretty much a re-write of that with some more details and other changes related to the plot. I say read that one first because the surprise is more important there.This one... This one. I would like to emphasize that the only thing Takara and Hasbro own- that is copyrighted- are the transformer characters and locations. The plot is mine, the idea is mine, and the descriptions are all of real places and so in the public domain. And given the way Camilla's been humming as she reads this, I feel the need to warn y'all that this plot/descriptions/idea may make it into a real, original novel.





	1. Valle Del Fuego

Starscream sighed in pleasure as he danced with the clouds. It was good to be away from the Nemesis, as often as he could be. Megatron’s temper had been flaring almost randomly of late.

He gracefully landed on a lava outcropping overlooking the Valle del Fuego. One of the lava flows that dotted the New Mexican landscape.

Dripping to the cliff, he vented in the breeze, watching the sun slowly beginning to sink below the horizon. 

A soft sound reached his audials as he stared. At first he took it to be the call of some animal, but as it repeated itself, it struck a chord in his spark. He knew, somehow, that this sound was the call of something very young and frightened.

He searched for the source of the noise, tracking it to a stand of four-wing salt bush. He parted said bushes with the tip of a digit and found a baffling sight. There were a pair of infants in the brush, wrapped up in a single blanket and simply left here beside the valley of fire. The bushes had at least protected their delicate skin from damage.

Starscream hissed as he worked his digits under them with extreme care. He was so large and they were so small… this could end very badly for them. When he had what he thought was a good grip, he lifted them carefully and deposited them in his opposite palm. The children, frightened even more by this new occurrence, bawled louder. 

“Shh… Shhh…” Starscream cooed and chirped to them, one digit gently stroking their fragile protoforms. “It’s all right. I have you now. Shh…”

They took no comfort from this declaration and Starscream decided that the only way to solve the situation would be to find their Creators. He searched all over the Valle del Fuego, looking for hours, but there was no one else in the area. It seemed that someone had carried these two infants to the lava flow, stashed them under the four-wing salt bush, and just… it was too horrible to think about. 

And now his Seeker Creator-Caretaker coding was fully activated. He couldn’t have left them behind, even if he wanted to. With the most delicate of digits, he placed them in his cockpit. “I’m sorry your parents… left you. I’m going to take care of you now, though. You’ll be safe. I promise.”

As he took off, he opened the human’s internet and began researching. There were various formulas for human infant sustenance available, but his medical research revealed that these were not the best, most natural option for the children. Humans produced milk for their babies, much like transformers filtered energon for their sparklings. 

When he reached his lab, the two had quieted. Taking advantage of their momentary silence, he began mixing and arranging chemical structures. When he had a substance that was 99% similar to breast milk, he delicately filled his smallest pipette with the white fluid and offered it to the two babies. As he was feeding them, one optic on the pipette, one on the child, he noticed their features.

Both had green-grey eyes, but one of them had blonde hair and the other dark. Starscream had not thought that was possible in twins, that blonde was a recessive gene, but here it was, fresh and obvious as the sunlight.

And then, the thought occurred to him. Perhaps they had not been born of the same Father. If the woman who bore them had been carrying on with two men, she might have sparked for both of them, depending on the time period in which they interfaced. Then, it would have been obvious that she was unfaithful to either and her lovers might have abandoned her. If that were the case, she might have taken the babes to the Valle to be rid of them, blaming them for her loss. His cupping servo cupped them a little more. 

Their eyes claimed that they were sisters, at least, as did other features through the maximum magnification his optics could offer. Their noses had the same shape and their chins. 

And he loved them deeply the longer he looked at them. They were his, his and no one else’s.

Now he just needed a small enough pair of servos to hold and cuddle them properly. Reaching up into a cabinet, he pulled a petri dish down and padded it with wadding. The two infants sank only slightly into the firm pad as their eyes drooped. Fed now, they were exhausted. While they slept off their full tummies, Starscream rummaged in a cabinet of abandoned and forgotten projects until he found the holomatter projector he had built.

The projector slipped easily enough into the connections in his cockpit. He linked it to his datapad and began creating a human. Setting the gender to female, he compared the two infants to his avatar. They had to be similar enough so that no one would question that he was their mother. With that in mind, her hair had to be blonde and her eyes the same green-grey. With that, he chose a skin tone between beige and ivory, leaning more towards beige. He wished he could make her skin darker, but then her children’s light tone would look odd. 

He dressed her in a simple, matronly outfit with sky blue heels and named her Aster- for a kind of flower with five petals shaped like a star. At a command from his CPU, Aster materialized on the counter and surveyed herself. “Hot damn. I look good as a female human.” She looked back up at the collapsed and offline frame above her. “It works perfectly. If only I could control both Aster and my frame at the same time.” With a few clicks and some tweaking, he adjusted her voice to be more feminine by filtering it into a higher range. “That’s better.”

She shrugged and went to the babies, stroking their tummies and soft hair. “Don’t worry, babies. Mommy’s going to take care of you.”

They made soft noises in their sleep and Aster perched on the edge of the petri dish, just looking at them, for a long moment. Then, Aster de-materialized. She would return the next time they needed care, but for the moment, there was more important things to worry about. Starscream knew a little about human culture, but he needed to know all about it now. He had to take care of his children and raise them so they could be humans when they grew up.

He opened his processor to the internet and did a search on child rearing. It was… revealing to say the least. Humans argued about child rearing as much as they did football. He spent hours absorbing all of the information he could like a sponge, spending most of his time on medical sites with the rare delving into more personal blogs. After what felt like years of sorting the information, he came to one conclusion: This was confusing. He would get more done from trial and error based on his own experiences in the past. 

Focusing on the purely practical, he found a list of everything a child needed to be a citizen in the USA: A birth certificate, a Social Security number, and other similar records. By the same token, Aster needed all of these. Starscream set to hacking into the government mainframe and inserting himself and his two children into it. Aster became Aster Skrall, a twenty-seven year old Californian native- born and raised in San Diego. She had a degree in chemical engineering and physics as well as a brief career in the Air Force- honorably discharged when she gave birth to her twins- and here he faltered. What to name the two tiny humans? Breaking away from the computer briefly, he cast a glance at them. In the meantime, he opened a human website on baby names. Nothing appealed, really. Nothing fit how deeply he loved them. 

Starscream wanted to call them by Seeker names with beautiful meanings, but Aster couldn’t go around chirping and chattering to get her children’s attention. He would settle for the words’ meanings in human language then.

Aster materialized and Starscream slumped. She walked slowly over to the two babies and wrapped her arms around them, careful not to disturb the two. “I love you both… Elegance, and Liberty.” She snuggled them gently before disappearing again.

Starscream input his daughters’ names and gave them a birthdate only a few months prior to the current date. They couldn’t be much older than three months, but they couldn’t be very young either.

He altered a hospital’s records and created birth certificates for all three of them. He registered a California Driver’s License in Aster’s name and searched online for a house in Albuquerque. It was the largest city close to where he had found them, it only made sense to keep them there. It would also give Aster a convenient way to establish herself in New Mexico to move down from California.

Now came the nitty gritty details. He opened his human bank account and checked his balance, planning carefully. He had earned a fortune playing the stock market, which had been an entertainment for the Decepticons for a long time. He was good at it, too, so while he was thinking out a plan for how to get from the California coast- or the middle of the Pacific, depending on how a mech looked at it- to Albuquerque, he took a moment to play on the internet stock trading. When he had a plan fairly well etched out, he signed off and turned over to different websites again, planning out what he and the babies would need.

So he bought a fairly nice, two-story house in a neighborhood where the crime rate was low and the people seemed friendly. He would worry about school for the two later, when it was time to worry about it. Instead, he reached out to find a pediatrician and a daycare center. 

Once he had a house, he ordered furniture and accoutrements to be delivered to it after the closing date. He spared no expense in setting them up nicely. Aster would have a marvelously vague job at the Laboratories outside of the city, so there would be no ballpark for the neighbors to be suspicious if she was living above the means of an ordinary employee. And since all of her work would be classified, no one would be able to ask about it.

Finally, Starscream turned his attention to one, last task. Much as it pained him, Aster needed a car, an earth vehicle. He scrolled through a list of models, looking for one that wasn’t repulsive. Finally, he settled on a sleek, silver machine with a front and back seat. It would have to be traded in later for a larger car when the girl’s grew, but for as long as they were infants and didn’t have to worry about legroom, this Stingray would be perfect. He would have to pick it up at a dealership in San Diego.

And there was the rub: How were Aster and her babies supposed to get to San Diego? Starscream couldn’t just fly there, he’d be seen and that would be certain to bring attention. He could fly part of the way, hide himself in a storage container or a warehouse, and then Aster could run the rest of the way, but how was she supposed to run with two babies?

Some kind of cart appeared to be necessary. A quick search of the internet revealed a device called a “jogging stroller.” Starscream altered the designs and began constructing it, widening the triangle so it could carry two babies instead of one, lifting the wheels and designing shock springs to compensate for the additional strain of running. Padding it down with soft material designed to repel water, he had a fairly formidable little stroller with a shade over it and a clear, plastic curtain in case it rained. It was the best night cycle he had spent without recharging, even after Elegance and Liberty woke up and squalled to be fed and changed in the middle of it.


	2. San Diego to Albuquerque: Two Hours

In the morning, he had his bridge duty to attend to, but as soon as his four hours were done, he escaped back to his lab to allow Aster to take care of Elegance and Liberty, who were fussing and wanted to be held. When he had them settled, fed, and cleaned again, he hurried through his lab work for the day and then scooped them into his cockpit, putting the stroller and a cold-case of their milk along with the baby bottles he had managed to make into his subspace. With a few moments of impatience as the tower rose, he was out into the sky, blazing towards San Diego, intent.

He found an abandoned barn and hid his frame among the junk inside. Aster came out with ease and strapped her babies into the running stroller. They were twenty miles from San Diego: She made it there in an hour and slowed her pace to match a human’s, though a very fit human’s. By the time she was pulling her stroller into a bus and swiping her card through the reader to pay for the ride, Elegance and Liberty were very ready to be out of the heat and fed. 

But when Aster reached into her bag and pulled out their bottles, they were too miserable to take them and continued bawling into the cramped bus even as she shushed them gently and tried to soothe them. 

“Oh, my, they are just not happy campers.” An elderly human female with hair curled tightly to her skull observed.

“No, I’m afraid not.” Aster sighed. “We ran from our apartment, and now they’re hot.”

“The heat brings out the worst in all of us.” The woman nodded sagely. “Try resting the nipple against their cheeks, let them feel that it’s nice and cool. Then they’ll take it.”

Aster nodded and rested the nipple against Elegance’s cheek. After a moment, she turned her little face to take the bottle and let Aster attend to Liberty in the same way. Within a few seconds, the bus was quiet again.

“Thank you.” She smiled at the old woman. “That’s a relief.”

“Of course. Anything to help a young mother. If you don’t mind my nosiness, where are you three going today?”

“We’re going to pick up a new car and start the drive to Albuquerque.”

“That’s quite a long way to drive.”

“I don’t mind road trips.” Aster smiled at her daughters. “But I’ve received a job offer from the Laboratories there and it’s an offer I just can’t refuse.”

“Pardon my curiosity, but what about their Father?”

Aster looked away as Starscream tried to think of a suitably discouraging statement. “We’re leaving him here.”

“Ah. One of those then. I’m sorry it didn’t work for you, dear.” She patted Aster’s arm. “But there are plenty of fish in the sea.”

“Thank you. My name is Aster, by the way.”

“Irene, honey. Irene Mason.”

They reached their stop and Starscream strapped his two back into their stroller. “Thank you, for the tip and the conversation, Irene. I’m sorry we won’t meet again.”

“You never know, dear. Good luck and God bless you.”

“Thank you. You too.” Starscream lifted the stroller down the steps and began jogging towards the dealership. On the way, he stopped in at a local “Wal-Mart” and picked up a pair of infant car seats. Safety was all-important when operating a motor vehicle.

The man who greeted Aster seemed surprised at how young she was, but didn’t miss a beat. “Well, Miss Aster, right this way is your dream car.” He gestured to the far end of the lot where the silver Stingray gleamed in the sunlight. 

“Thank you.” Aster smiled, accepting the envelope of documents from the man, signing the bill of sale, and finally grasping the two sets of keys. 

“Don’t wreck her too soon.” The man joked as Aster looked the car over with approval. 

“I won’t.” Aster chuckled, installing the car seats for her precious twins in the cramped back seat. When they grew up, she would have to bite the bullet and buy something larger. “Thank you, Mike.” The stroller folded down and went in the trunk, barely fitting, and the cold-sealed bag with the milk went into the front seat.

“You’re welcome, Miss Aster. Have a good day.” Mike watched them pulling out of the dealership and onto the road with a smile on his face.

Aster drove the Stingray back to where she had left Starscream’s frame. The jet came to life as Aster faded and strapped the Stingray into a carrying harness. 

The twins slept peacefully for the two hours it took them to get to Albuquerque.

Starscream landed and hid in another old barn, unstrapping the Stingray. Aster re-appeared at a thought and climbed back into the car. Within another thirty minutes, the little family was pulling up into the driveway of their new home. 

It was a two-story house with a terrace on the second floor. The whole thing was neither extravagant, nor modest. The yards were rather boring, but there were a few, well-established trees, and the backyard was a tiered and terraced place, filled with Juniper and fruit trees. It had potential, this little place. Starscream’s home-making coding was coming online the longer he stayed staring.

The front courtyard- a tiny, bricked off place where he would be able to store bicycles or something like that- was filled with boxes. Many of his orders had come, it seemed.

Aster was at a significant advantage to other women. After pushing the stroller into the house, she began carrying boxes inside. None of them were too heavy for her. 

It was August, by the human calendar, and the sun set late as Aster was carrying in the last box. Suddenly, a voice interrupted her work. “Are you the new neighbor?” 

Aster looked up and saw a portly little woman with short, black hair and a blue tin in her hands. “I am. Aster Skrall, who are you?”

“I’m Ms. Evelyn. I live next door.” She nodded to the house beside Aster’s. It was a single-story ranch with a nicely tended garden in front of it. “I brought you some cookies.”

“Thank you.” Aster accepted the tin. “I’d invite you in, but I’m afraid I’m not quite ready for company yet. I was hoping the furniture truck would have showed up by now.”

“That’s quite all right. Do come over if you need anything.” Ms. Evelyn smiled at the young woman. “I hope your furniture gets here soon.”

“Thank you.” Aster smiled, waving, then went into their unfurnished house. The only thing that came with it were the household appliances: Washer and Dryer and the Refrigerator, Microvave, and stove.

The furniture truck finally arrived and Aster spent the rest of the afternoon juggling the twins and the men lifting and pulling the massive pieces hither and thither.

When the furniture was sorted, Aster worked through the night to set up her house. It was the second night Starscream went without recharge in a row, but he didn’t care. He was delirious with happiness as he arranged the twin’s crib next to his bed in the Master bedroom. It came up to the bed’s level for easy access during the night and he had a mini-fridge stashed next to the bed with prepared bottles for them. 

When Aster’s head hit her pillow, she was in recharge instantly, a wide smile on her face.


	3. Daycare

In the morning, it was time to take Elegance and Liberty to their first day of daycare. Aster stretched and yawned, loading her babies into the Stingray. She was beginning to regret two days straight without sleep. 

It was a long drive to the small daycare center. It was located in a mall next to a fitness center and plenty of children were playing in a large, open area. The nursery past that was quiet, infants sleeping in little cribs or playing on the rug with soft toys. Attentive caretakers watched over all of them.

Aster laid her twins in their own crib and sighed. “It’s the first time they’ve been away from me, so I don’t know how they’ll act.” She warned the overseer.

“It’s no problem. We’ve had many, many fussy little ones over the years.” The woman assured Aster. “They’ll be well taken care of.”

“Thank you. Here’s their milk.” She handed over the cooler on her shoulder. “And I should be back at about five.”

“All right. We’ll be right here. Your girls are in good hands.”

Aster nodded and bent over the crib. “I’ll be back soon, babies.” She kissed their heads. “Good-bye.” The young woman hurried away before she could start crying.

Starscream slid into the Nemesis at the last minute before his shift began and he set to work. He was on monitoring duty that morning. It was boring and gave him far too much time to think. It was clear that he couldn’t rely on a simple holomatter avatar, not if he was going to be around other humans. They would expect him to eat, sweat, and bleed, all things that Aster simply couldn’t do as pure holomatter. 

When he finally was allowed to leave the bridge and head for his lab, he hurried through his work and began modifying a drone, experimenting with casting his avatar over it. It was a long process, full of trial and error, but at the end of it, he had a fully functioning human-like construct.

At the end of his shift, he blazed through the sky back to where he had left the Stingray, carrying Aster’s new frame in his cockpit. This would be his last trip there and back. Now that everything solid was in New Mexico, he could just project long-distance, especially now that he had something solid to connect to.

Aster reappeared in front of him. From now on, her baseline clothing set was a skin-tight exercise outfit that went to her knees and elbows. It seemed Aster liked to run and work outside, so they would blend well. She picked up some human clothes from a store on her way back to the daycare. Now that she had a body, she would need a wardrobe to blend in with the rest of the humans.

Elegance and Liberty cooed and squirmed with delight when they were laid in their mother’s arms. Aster smiled down at them, kissing their little heads. At last, home and complete once more.


	4. Rio Del Oso

Starscream pushed the stroller out onto the sidewalk. The evening was cooling and the sunset turned the mountain a bright red above their neighborhood. It was time for some practical exploration of the environment.

Their cul-de-sac was set halfway up a fairly steep hill. Aster set out at a jog, making her way among the twists and turns, memorizing their neighborhood and the small pocket of shops and restaurants next to it. She was surprised, and pleased, to find that everything they needed was within running distance. There was a Whole Foods at the bottom of the hill and a whole mess of small shops and a bookstore clustered around it.

Past this was a large, open field that contained a school- apparently a very good one. Perhaps that would be an option for later on. Further along, he found the Cherry Hills Library. Perfect. It reminded him that he needed to get Aster a New Mexico Driver’s License. Not hard: He could apply online with his California one.

As he was running back, he noticed a large bear of a man trying to sort out three young dogs on separate leashes. They nodded to each other as Aster passed, pushing her stroller. Of course, by then Elegance and Liberty were fast asleep, the object of the stroller ride.

They settled into a routine, and it was a peaceful, lovely one. They ran in the mornings and evenings, enjoying the sun or the cool breeze in turn. Aster received her driver’s license and applied for a library card. She began reading earthling classics to the two children when they were on her lap. As she studied the people around her- her neighbors were warm and welcoming- she began to pick up nick-nacks and bits and pieces of humanity for her home. One day, she took her twins to a photographer and hung their photographs in nambe frames- their first birthday. 

The decision to begin taking them to the church on Osuna was a spur-of-the-moment decision. They ran to the early service on Sunday mornings and ran home after socializing with other mothers and children.

By their second birthday, Starscream had pretty much figured out everything about being human. He had learned about all the major holidays and participated in the races that were regularly scheduled. 5k runs were the perfect distance to go with the stroller. Aster, of course, was very good at them, running so often and regularly gave her very strong calves.

They had joined the local JCC and alternated spending their afternoon exercise time there or at Rio del Oso park, where Ellie and Libbie had a chance to run about freely, climbing, swinging, or digging in the sand as their fantasy took them. 

“Mommy!” Ellie giggled. “Puppy!”

Aster looked over at her other daughter, tearing her eyes away from Libbie’s sand castle. Ellie was petting a massive chocolate lab, who was licking the remainder of her lunch off of her cheeks. “Ellie, take care!” She stood up and came over. The lab was trailing his leash behind him. He seemed friendly, but he was such a large dog…

“King! King, where did you go?” A deep, masculine voice called. “King!”

The chocolate lab lifted his head to bark and went back to licking Ellie. Meanwhile, Libbie had abandoned her sandcastle and come over to see the dog as well. Aster looked up. “I think he’s over here!” She called.

A great, bear of a man jogged into view with two other Labradors straining at their leashes- one black and one yellow. He had a neatly trimmed, black beard and bright blue eyes. His hair was soft, blue-black and he stood an easy head and shoulders above Aster. “I’m so sorry. King managed to pull his leash out of my hand.” He gathered up the leather leash and sighed as his other two labs sniffed the twin girls and the black one began cleaning Libbie’s face. 

Aster’s daughters giggled and petted the dogs. “Nice doggies.”

Aster nodded. “Well, no harm done.” She smiled up at him. “They’re beautiful dogs.”

“Thank you. I rescued them as puppies.” He rubbed the yellow lab’s head. “I’m trying to teach them manners, but it can be like herding cats sometimes.”

Aster chuckled at the comparison. “Sounds like my girls.” She smiled down at her daughters.

“Heh. They’re lovely. King and Prince certainly like them.” The large man smiled at Aster. “I’m Alec, what’s your name?”

“Aster. I think we’ve seen each other before.”

Alec glanced over at the stroller, parked beside a bench. “Ah, I remember. You’re the woman who runs everywhere.”

“Well, that’s certainly accurate.” Aster petted Duke’s head as he mosied to her and sniffed her. “I’m glad we finally met.”

“So am I.” Alec tugged gently on Prince’s leash when he began nudging Libbie with his nose. “Do you often come here?”

“Every other day. I try to make sure my girls always get plenty of exercise. It’s good for me too.”

“That’s a good plan. I bet they’ll grow up to be good little athletes with you for a mother.”

“Here’s hoping.” Aster noticed that Alec was wearing a 5-k charity run shirt. “Do you run as well?”

“Well, I have three Labradors. I have to be able to get them to settle down somehow.” Alec chuckled. “I run any 5-k I can enter with my three.”

“Same here.” Aster chuckled. “Though I imagine a stroller doesn’t bother as many people as dogs would.”

“It’s fun to race. Speaking of, I should probably keep moving. They get excited easily.” He tugged King back into line. “This was very nice. I hope we see each other again.”

“I’ll be looking for you.” Aster agreed. “Have a nice day, Alec. Libbie, Ellie, say bye-bye.”

The two girls waved at the dogs and Alec. “Bye-bye!”

“Bye-bye.” Alec waved back at them, gathered his three, and headed off at a run with the bouncing dogs.

Aster checked the time. “Five more minutes, darlings, then we have to go home.”

Libbie nodded seriously. “Ellie, help with sand castle!”

“Okay!” Ellie followed her sister to where Libbie had been working to construct it.

Aster smiled as she took her spot on the bench again, keeping an eagle eye on them. They were her reason to live.


	5. Whole Foods

Ellie and Libbie loved to go to Whole Foods with their mother. The tantalizing smells and bright colors always lured them in to look at everything. It made Aster’s heart swell with pride when they turned down candies in favor of berries. Which was not to say they didn’t occasionally get candy, but they didn’t want it as often as other children.

Though, on this particular day, they were in a hurry. Aster had been running late all day it seemed, ever since Libbie had been having a “corner time” for snatching another child’s doll out of her hands. When Aster had heard about it from the caretaker in charge of her tots, she had insisted that Libbie complete the correction and they had had to wait an extra five minutes before they could leave. To make it more frustrating, she had been intending to take them to a children’s concert at the Botanical Gardens. Now it seemed they would be late to that as well, because they just couldn’t get through their shopping fast enough.

With this in mind, she had her twins strapped into their stroller still and was hurriedly filling the market baskets on either side with produce. She reached out for a particularly nice-looking mango and suddenly a large hand fell on hers as they both grasped the same fruit at once.

Aster followed the hand up to an arm, closed in a plaid shirt, and her eyes latched on a pair of bright blue ones. “Alec? Hello.” Suddenly, the concert at the Biopark felt a lot less urgent.

“Hello, Aster.” Alec withdrew his hand. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine.” Aster offered him the mango. “You saw it first.”

Alec accepted the fruit and put it into his own basket with care. “Are you in a hurry?”

“No, not really.” Aster smiled at him. “Just rushing.”

“I see.” Alec chose another mango. “You looked focused, so I didn’t want to interrupt you.”

“Well, I have time.” Aster closed her bag of mangoes. “Care to join us on our adventure?”

“Why not?” Alec agreed. “I have my three attached to a café table outside. I was going to have dinner and people watch. Care to join me?”

“I think that sounds like something the twins and I would love.” Aster turned to the stroller. “Do you want to get out now, girls?”

Libbie and Ellie squealed in delight as Aster unstrapped them. They ran rampant around the stroller as Aster and Alec chatted over vegetables and fruits. Slowly, they made their way over to the prepared foods and the girls demanded a small container of assorted olives before they chose their dinners.

Aster selected an assortment of Sashimi roses. “I want to make my own Sashimi, but I’m nervous about using raw fish.” She admitted to Alec. “So I’ve been settling for California rolls when I have time to make them.”

“Personally, I like my dinner hot.” Alec chose a chicken quarter with mashed potatoes and a salad from the bar. “I just don’t enjoy cold food.”

“And yet you’re getting a salad.” Aster smirked, chuckling as she had the man behind the counter get a small piece of steak for Libbie and a serving of shrimp scampi for Ellie. 

“Salads are the exception.” Alec chuckled as they got in line at the check-out. “Oh, I forgot something. Why don’t you go out to the table where my boys are waiting and I’ll join you in a moment?”

“Certainly. We’ll be waiting.” Aster nodded as Alec hurried back into the bakery section. 

Prince, Duke, and King wagged their tails and strained at their leashes when they spotted Aster and the twins. Libbie and Ellie ran ahead to pet the three Labradors and snuggle them. Aster chuckled and caught up, pushing the stroller next to the table and arranging the white meal boxes on it along with paper napkins and plastic utensils. 

Duke laid his large head on her knee and gazed up at her with his dark eyes until she pet him and scratched his ears. His massive tail thumped against the table’s center support.

“Yes, yes, I like you too.” Aster smiled at him.

“Be careful. Duke’s a beggar.” Alec sat down beside her, placing his own boxes on the table. One of them was clear plastic over an assortment of gourmet cookies. “He’ll try to con you out of your dinner if you aren’t careful.”

“I have plenty of experience with little con artists.” Aster smiled at her daughters. “Sit up at the table, girls, it’s time to eat.”

“Okay!” Ellie and Libbie pulled themselves up onto the bench across from their mother and Alec. Starscream cut their food into little pieces so they could eat and allowed them to begin their dinner. 

Aster opened her own box and began eating her Sashimi and rice. “Do you often have dinner here?” She questioned Alec, mixing plenty of wasabi into her soy sauce. She loved strong flavors. Her sense of taste and smell were dull and it could be hard to taste subtle flavor, so she loved spices and sauces that brought out the taste in life.

“When I have it out, it’s usually here or at Rex’s or Dion’s.” Alec explained. “But I was walking and saw you come in here and well… Kind of followed you, I guess.”

Aster giggled. “I didn’t think I left that much of an impression.”

“Well, you did.” Alec blushed, staring down at his salad. “That sounded… not the way I meant it.”

“It’s all right. I understand.” Aster waved it off. “So, what did you do today?”

“I made a delivery to Clovis from ABQ and came back. I’m a trucker, so I’m on the road a lot, but I don’t work for huge state-to-state companies. Well, sometimes I do take a haul out for a few days, but I try to make sure I can be back here before dark.” Alec explained. “Albuquerque is home base for me.”

“That sounds like it gives you a lot of freedom.” Aster smiled. “I have a ten-to-five at the Labs, unfortunately. My daughters spend a lot of time at daycare or with our neighbor, Ms. Evelyn.”

“I can’t imagine trying to raise two children alone.”

“We manage.” Aster smiled as Libbie offered Ellie a bite of her steak. “They’re good kids, and I can’t imagine life without them.”

“I can see that. You really love them.”

“I do. I’d do anything for them.” Aster gave them a soppy smile, then turned back to Alec. “So, home base, eh? Baseball fan?”

“Only of the Isotopes.” Alec chuckled. “But ex-military, actually. I’m a Marine down from 29 Palms. I served my tours, then got out and bought my truck.”

“I was honorably discharged when I had my two girls.” Aster smiled at her daughters. “But I was Air Force.”

“Impressive. Did you fly or were you support?”

“I flew a few missions. Nothing I can talk about, unfortunately.” Aster shrugged. “I suppose it’s the same for your tours.”

“Still classified.” Alec nodded. “It was boring stuff anyway, nothing like what you’d see in a movie.”

“Same with mine.” Aster agreed. 

Ellie climbed down from the bench and went to her mother, hugging her leg. “All done.”

“Good job, Ellie. You can play with Duke, King, and Prince if Alec says it’s okay.”

Ellie turned her grey-green eyes on Alec pleadingly. The bear of a man chuckled. “Go ahead, Ellie, but don’t let them off their leashes.”

Ellie nodded and dove under the table to play with the three dogs. Libbie joined her after a while.

It was edging into October and the chill settled into Aster in spite of her warm running jacket. Alec didn’t seem to be bothered by the breezes that blew across the patio as the sun set behind the storefronts. The shadows grew long and the light began to fade by the time they noticed it.

“We should get home before it’s fully dark.” Aster observed. “Sorry to cut this short.” She stood and began clearing away the table.

“Let me walk you there.” Alec stood as well and picked up his unopened box of cookies and shopping bag. He untangled the three lab’s leashes and hooked them on one wrist. 

“You don’t have to.” Aster assured him.

“I was raised to be a gentleman.” Alec contradicted as Aster lifted her daughters into their stroller and strapped them in. “It wouldn’t be right to let a lovely lady and her two daughters walk home alone at night.”

“Well, if you insist, I wouldn’t mind the company.” Aster smiled, gripping the push bar. “But you’ll have to be able to go fast to keep up.”

“I think the boys and I can keep up.” Alec grinned back. “Let’s go.” They jogged out of the parking lot and crossed the street at the light. Then, they started running once they reached the sidewalk. Alec shot Aster a challenging look and picked up the pace a notch. Aster returned it and doubled her own. 

The dogs raced beside them, happily keeping pace with their human, even when both were full-on sprinting. At the next stop sign, they both slowed, breath heaving out into the cold evening air. They looked at each other and smiled before crossing the street and continuing their run through the evening.

Ms. Evelyn was sitting on her porch when they ran up to Aster’s house, chuckling. She watched as Alec bent over, breathing hard and Aster unlocked her door. The elderly neighbor rocked her chair as Aster invited the panting trucker in, lifting the stroller up over the threshold. 

Alec accepted and let his three off of their leashes as they bounded into Aster’s home. Ms. Evelyn nodded to herself as the door shut behind them. It was about time Aster found a nice, young man. God knew she deserved a good one after her last man shafted her and left her with the babies. 

Though that didn’t mean she wouldn’t be teasing her gently in the morning.


	6. Tea

Alec accepted the warm mug of tea Aster offered him. “Thank you.” He blew across the steaming surface before taking a careful sip.

Aster nodded, smiling. “It’s my own blend.” She sat down across from him with her own mug while Ellie and Libbie played with the three big dogs on the rug in front of the entertainment cabinet. Duke loped over and laid down at Aster’s feet, laying his head down on her slippered foot. Aster chuckled down at the dog and accepted one of the cookies Alec offered her.

“It’s delicious.” Alec settled back into the tan sofa, enjoying its soft support after their run. For a few moments, they enjoyed the peace and warm tea after the cold evening. 

“You’re a good runner.” Aster complimented. 

“So are you. You must be really strong to be able to push that stroller so fast. I have my three to pull me along when I get tired.”

“I have a lot of practice. We go for a run every morning and evening.” Aster explained. “The muscle just… developed, I suppose, as they got heavier.”

“Your discipline is admirable.” Alec smiled at her. “So… Do you want to go to the Balloon Fiesta 10-k together?”

“Sure.” Aster agreed easily. “I was going to run the 5-k anyway, I may as well upgrade.”

“Brilliant. I suppose I’ll see you this Friday, then.” Alec finished his tea and set the empty mug on the table. “This evening was wonderful, but I need to head home now.”

“Of course. Have a nice evening, Alec.” Aster walked him out to her door and waved as he jogged down the street with his dogs. Alec waved back, then disappeared around the corner.

Libbie and Ellie were blinking and nodding when she came back in, clearly ready to go to bed.

“Come here, my darlings.” Aster scooped them up and cuddled them. “Bathtime.”

The two girls hugged their mother’s neck, yawning. They were quiet through their tub time and as Aster helped them into their footed pajamas. They didn’t get time for a song or story, they were asleep before their little heads hit their pillows.

Aster smiled at them and pulled the blankets up to their chins. Closing the blinds on the window, she retreated to her own bedroom and snuggled down in her bed. Somehow, it felt a little larger as she slipped into recharge.


	7. 10-K

On Friday, Starscream woke approximately an hour after the battle had ended with an aching helm. Megatron’s brilliant strategy, as usual. Thank goodness Ms. Evelyn had Ellie and Libbie and not the daycare, or he would have been so late. He was still late, but less late than he thought he would be when the Autobots took him captive.

Prowl was staring in at him, but the Seeker ignored him. Aster materialized over her frame and turned the key to the Stingray. Time to go home and change before the 10-k.

She reached her home in less than half an hour and rushed to Ms. Evelyn’s next door, knocking.

“We’re in the back, Aster!” Ms. Evelyn called. Aster opened the heavy gate and headed into the backyard, walking past the gardens to the porch where Ellie and Libbie were drinking hot chocolate with their neighbor. “Held up at work, Aster?”

“I was.” Aster sighed. “But I made it in time to get ready for the race later.”

“Ah, just enough time to gussy up for your young man.” Ms. Evelyn smirked at her. “Have fun.”

Aster blushed. “He’s not my young man.” She protested, gathering up Libbie and Ellie in her arms. “Thank you for looking after them.”

“It was my pleasure, Aster. When you get sick of that daycare, I’d be glad to take them everyday.”

“Thank you, Ms. Evelyn, but I can’t ask that of you.” Aster bounced her daughters. “Let’s get a snack before we go to the race, girls.”

“Yay!” They squealed. “Bye-bye, Ms. Evelyn!”

 

Prowl poked Starscream’s faceplates. “Totally unresponsive, Ratchet. Perhaps you should come down here.”

Ratchet turned the corner and entered the cell. “Already here. Let me see.” He ran several scans of Starscream. “Hmm…”

“What’s happened to him, Ratch?” Prowl asked in concern. “Is it contagious?”

“He appears to be in a trance.” Ratchet snapped his digits in front of the Seeker’s faceplates. “But not in any danger, and no, it’s not contagious.”

“Will he come out of it?”

“I’m not sure.” Ratchet scanned more deeply. “I don’t see why he wouldn’t, and we could do far more harm than good if we tried to force him out.”

“Could this be one of Megatron’s new ideas? Put captured Decepticons into trances to prevent them passing information?”

“If it is, it’s remarkably well-executed.” Ratchet straightened. “Just keep him in here. I’ll keep an eye on his energon levels from medbay and if he drops below the line, I’ll come back and get him to fuel.”

“All right.” Prowl closed the cell again. “Monitor it for any changes as well. It might be something to bring to Prime’s attention.”

“Of course.” Ratchet agreed. “Though I doubt it’s the sign of anything particularly important.”

“Well, that will be for Prime to decide.”

 

Aster had down-graded from the Stingray- which she still kept in her two-car garage- to a gold Honda Odyssey after the twin’s first birthday. The reliable car was far less cramped than the Stingray and she could carry more items in it.

The Balloon Fiesta was a big event in Albuquerque. Hot Air Balloonists came from across the world to show off their balloons and tonight’s 10-k was going to be run on a track all around the field where the balloon glow was being held. The dark would make it hard to see, but that was beauracracy for you. Nothing could be perfect.

Aster easily found Alec and his three dogs, just like Alec easily found her and her massive stroller.

“Hello, Aster.” Alec smiled in the dim light from the balloon-shaped lamps that lit the course. “Ready to race?”

“Of course. More than ready.” Aster grinned at him, huffing slightly in the chill. All four humans were bundled up in coats and heavy pants. Aster and Alec had running clothes that were thinner than they would have liked, their heavy coats left in their vehicles so they wouldn’t be stolen or lost while their owners ran a race. Ellie and Libbie, though, were wrapped up in warm, fleece clothes with hats and mittens. Further, there was a blanket buckled down over them and the clear plastic windbreak was tied securely into place. Aster had even made sure to buckle their favorite cuddly toys next to their faces. They could sleep if they wanted, and not feel the chill. 

They made their way to the starting line and took their places, not too near the front. There wasn’t really a valuable prize- though there were journalists about, looking to take pictures for the Albuquerque Journal, and it was a relaxed group waiting to go.

The starting gun was fired into the air and they set off at a brisk jog. No one started out a 10-k by sprinting and neither did Aster or Alec, though the three Labradors strained at their leashes and it would be easy to out run the others around them.

They kept their pace easy and their strides long, trying to satisfy the Labradors while still being able to speak to each other, commenting on the beautiful hot air balloons spread out across the field. In spite of their heaters being lit and flaring with light, the baskets were tacked securely to the ground.

“There’s Darth Vader’s helmet. Do you think they have to pay royalties to Lucasfilm to have that up?” Aster commented.

“I’m not sure. They’re not making money, are they? I mean, it’s just an exhibition, right?”

“I think there’s a race for the Hot Air Balloons that has a prize purse, but I’m not sure.” 

“Oh. Well, if they were going to make money, then I suppose they would have to. There’s the teddy bear.”

“I like that one, it reminds me of my daughters.”

“Really? I like it too.”

The three Labradors barked as they passed the flying pig balloon. Alec chuckled and pulled them back into line. 

“I take it they don’t like Wendy?”

“Is that her name? I always thought she was just the flying pig.”

“You know, I’m not sure. When I first saw her, someone pointed her out to me in the sky and said her name was ‘Wendy.’ She was the first hot air balloon I ever saw.”

“I think my first had a Zia on it.” Alec pointed at the yellow balloon with the symbol of New Mexico’s state flag. “Like that one.”

“Beautiful. I love the colorful ones with the spirals.” 

“I like the shaped ones that look like things. Have you seen the Noah’s ark balloon?”

“Ellie’s favorite.” Aster nodded. “She named the giraffe after her favorite-“ She jumped as the gun went off again, signaling that the second lap had started.

Alec chuckled. “I think we took the lead.” He gestured behind them, where the pack was still pounding around the final corner.

“Huh.” Aster nodded. They were overtaken by a few runners going too fast for the second lap. “Well, Ellie named the giraffe Mr. Longneck.”

“Mr. Longneck?” Alec chuckled, urging King back onto the track.

“She’s two! We’ll work on creativity later!” Aster punched him lightly in the shoulder and kept on pushing. They focused on the pace and pound of their feet for a long moment.

“Which one’s your favorite?” Alec questioned.

“I would have to say the mermaid.” Aster replied.

“The one with the mirror or the one patterned onto a balloon?”

“The one patterned onto a balloon, of course, the one with a mirror looks so cartoony.”

“It’s a mermaid, how is it supposed to not be cartoony?” Alec shot her a look out of the corner of his eyes. She didn’t see it in the dark, though it glowed with fondness.

“The one on the balloon looks like someone put-“ the gun fired again as the runners ahead of them started the third lap. “-time and effort into it.”

“It’s amazing that Ellie and Libbie aren’t fussing about the gun. Are they that heavy sleepers?”

“They are.” Aster smiled fondly. “And I have them nice and bundled up, so they’re warm and cuddled. The best way to get them to calm down is just to buckle them into the stroller and go for a run.”

“Well, that makes sense. I’ve heard of people driving their babies until they fall asleep.” 

“Same principle.” Aster agreed. After a few moments, they began passing the runners who had taken the lead from them earlier. “See? Told you they would exhaust themselves running that fast.”

“I guess slow and steady does win the race.” Alec laughed. “You hear that, Prince? Stop pulling ahead.”

Prince whined and slowed his pace slightly to let the other dogs catch up.

“How do you manage to keep three dogs under control?” Aster questioned.

“I have them wearing pinch collars, so they don’t like pulling at their leashes.” Alec explained. “They’re completely safe and don’t hurt them, I tested the collars on myself to make sure, but they are annoying.”

“That makes sense.” Aster agreed. The fourth lap started and they picked up the pace to keep in the lead. Starscream had to be careful whenever he ran as Aster. She needed to be a realistic human female, but it was so tempting to simply let her capabilities run free. He had to rein himself in as much as Aster so that no one would be suspicious of the mother of two. Still, he let her run fast enough to win. He was competitive by nature.

Alec fell behind as the three dogs, tired, lagged, and the runners behind them caught up, putting on final bursts of speed to take the lead from the stroller-pusher. Aster and a young man were neck and neck for a few moments before Starscream let Aster push out a little extra speed for the last fifty yards and they blew across the line in front of him, blinded by the sudden lights from a photographic reporter’s camera. 

Alec finally caught up to her- coming in fourth place. “You won!” He whirled her and the hot air balloon shaped medal into the air and, still high on adrenaline, kissed her on the lips.

Aster laughed and pulled away. “Yes, I did.” She looked up at the glowing balloons in the darkness. 

Alec turned to the balloons as well. “…I’m sorry. Was that too forward?”

“It was. A little.” Aster replied. “But it was spur-of-the-moment, so I forgive you.”

“…I hope we can spend more time together, like this.” Alec tugged his dogs into line for a final walk to the parking lot where his car waited.

“…I’d like that.” Aster turned her head and smiled almost shyly at him.

“Can I take you out… somewhere? To celebrate that you won?”

“…Perhaps later. October can be a busy month, with Halloween, and everything. But we can race again. For the Halloween 5-K through the Biopark. And I would like to see you for runs. If you’re available.” She began pushing her stroller towards the parking lot. 

“Of course. Just give me a time.” Alec reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. It was a side-flip phone like a Blackberry. “Can I get your number?”

Aster smiled and recited it. “I’ll get yours when you call.” She had the cutting edge smart phone, of course, and Starscream had linked it to his comm system so she could take calls from it instead of having to switch back to his frame. 

“Thank you.” Alec saved the contact and looked over at his Toyota. “I suppose I should get my three royals settled.”

“Of course. I need to take my babies home.” Aster pulled back the plastic windbreak curtain and began unbuckling her twins. “Have a nice evening, Alec.”

“You too, Aster.” Alec whistled to his three and helped them climb up into the Toyota as Aster buckled Ellie and Libbie into their seats. 

Aster backed the Honda out and reached over to the music system. She turned on the classical radio station and listened to soft piano music as she drove home.

Her mind was whirling and her lips still tingled from Alec’s kiss. At the time, it had been such a surprise she hadn’t thought about it, but now… She could feel the firm press of slightly chapped lips and the soft scratching against her cheeks as his silky beard touched her. 

For a human, Alec kissed beautifully. 

And Aster- Aster was responding. The strength of the response almost frightened the Seeker in charge of the facsimile. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Aster existed to raise her two daughters into adult humans, not to fall in love with a trucker.

Nothing against truckers, but that wasn’t what she wanted her children to take their inspiration from. They needed to think of education and hard work as the path to the good life, to reach out for their full potential.

Though Alec… Alec seemed different. He was military: Marines, no less. Had served tours of duty and come home. That was more than a lot of people could say.

They could do worse, if Aster was inclined to find a father for her twins. 

Starscream shook his head. No, Alec was sweet and handsome, but Aster wasn’t human. She wasn’t real, and nothing could change that.

They would be friends, but no more.


	8. October

Aster spent a nice, long weekend with her children. It was hard, most of the time, to make sure Starscream could stay out of Megatron’s sight and mind long enough to have the weekend together, but there was a plus to being the Decepticon’s second in command: He made the shift schedules.

In any case, he didn’t have to do any of his usual maneuvering this time: He spent all of the time he was trapped in the Autobot’s base as Aster until he was “rescued” by the rest of the Decepticons. 

Alec called Aster Saturday morning and they set up a time to meet and run with each other in the evenings over the week. Barring a haul or an “emergency at work,” they would meet on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at seven with the girls and dogs. Aster normally took her run at that time, so it wasn’t a huge change.

Ms. Evelyn was already decorating her house for Halloween. The front walk had been surrounded with a spooky path made out of plastic pumpkin lanterns on stakes connected by hand-woven spiderwebs made of twine. Ms. Evelyn was more than a little crafty. 

Another reason the girls liked playing at her home so much was that there was always something fascinating for them to do. The middle aged woman filled her time with pottery and glasswork and was perfectly happy to let the girls play with clay next to her on her workbench, far from her dangerous tools.

Aster smiled whenever her daughters carried pinched clay pots home or poured slip dishes glazed with tiny hands. Of course, she smiled almost constantly around her daughters.

“How are you this morning, Ms. Evelyn?” Aster questioned, stretching for her morning run. Ellie and Libbie were barely waking in the stroller as the cool air hit their tiny faces beneath their hats.

“Fine. When you get back from your run, come into my kitchen with the girls and I’ll give you all some mulled cider. When it gets to be October or November, I always have a pot of my special brew on the stove.”

“You know, I think we’ll take you up on that.” Aster agreed, gripping the handle of the stroller. “Be back in about thirty minutes.”

In thirty minutes all three of them were very awake and chilled and quite ready to leap out of the stroller and their shoes and into Ms. Evelyn’s warm, spice-scented house. The cider was waiting for them in mugs on the tabletop and Ellie and Libbie rushed to their neighbor, hugging her. “Ms. Ewelin!”

“Hello, darlings.” She hugged each of them. “Sit in your chairs and drink your cider.” She encouraged them, tapping the table in front of the two sippy cups full of warm cider.

Aster took the seat across from Ms. Evelyn and took a deep draft of her own cider. “Thank you, Ms. Evelyn. This really hits the spot.”

“I know. You know, the first year you three were here, I wondered if your runs would survive the winter, and now here you are, still going strong.”

Aster chuckled. “It’s tempting to stay inside, sometimes, but I remember that it’s easier to break a good habit than to re-learn it.”

“You live a very healthy life. What about your gentleman friend, Aster? Does he like morning runs as well?”

“Alec? How did you…? Nevermind.” She shook her head. “Alec is just a friend.”

“Is he? A new friend?”

“Yes. He doesn’t live in the neighborhood. At least, I don’t think he does.”

“Is he a friend that you hope for something more from?”

“Oh, stop your meddling. I’m not looking for a young man.”

“Ah, but love tends to ignore those signs, darling.” Ms. Evelyn wagged a finger at her. “And you had best listen to love.”

Aster shook her head. “I get all the love I need from my daughters.”

“Perhaps all you need, but is it all you want?”

“Oh, Ms. Evelyn…” She sighed and smiled, shaking her head. “Never change.”

“I don’t intend to, darling.” Evelyn smirked. “So I can’t stop meddling.”

Aster sighed again and drank her cider. It was pleasant and warm, though Starscream could hardly taste the spices through the sweet, syrupy taste of the cider itself. 

Still, after so much of the same flavors for so long… any human flavor tasted good, even the bland taste of steel-cut oats.

October deepened and Starscream put together two small costumes for his little darlings: A lion and a lamb respectively. Libbie insisted on being the lion and chasing Ellie about the house for a long time after Aster had dressed them up. 

They ran with Alec at the 5-k and won. This time, Ellie and Libbie were awake enough to see as their mother accepted a plastic pumpkin full of sweets and small gifts such as bath bombs and a gift certificate. Alec and his three dogs had their own third place prize. 

They all went to a café called the Flying Star after the race to have pumpkin cheesecake and talk about the costumes they had seen at the race. It was enjoyable and Aster and Alec sat just a hair too close together, their arms occasionally touching as they reached for objects and passed forks, sugar packets, and drinks about the table.


	9. Home Improvement

By then, Starscream had been “rescued” had the slag beaten out of him and was restored to his place in the Nemesis. Life as the second in command could be its own kind of hell. He found himself weakening where Alec was concerned, especially when he appeared with a pile of presents at Christmas and helped Aster to hang sparkling lights on the roof. 

To distract Aster, he began his own projects. As soon as the snow melted, he began laying bricks and mortar into garden beds, spread grass seeds over the remaining area of the lawn- and it was quite a chore to keep Ellie and Libbie off of the new grass- and began hacking out the juniper from the tiered section of the backyard leading up to the cinderblock wall. 

To her slight chagrin, when Alec heard of these projects- from Ms. Evelyn- he offered to help and, with a project that large? What woman would say no?

They spent a spring and summer working shoulder to shoulder, not speaking much because there was little that needed to be said. While Ellie and Libbie played on the newly grown lawn with the three dogs, they laid a brick edging all around the patio and filled it with dirt to plant a flower garden in it. They made large, round beds around the trunks of every tree and tore out the rotting railroad ties that were separating the yard into sections.

The vegetable garden was Alec’s idea. “The way this piece of the yard is put together, it makes me think something should be there.” He commented to Aster as they lined the pull-in driveway with bricks. He gestured to an open space right up against the wall they shared with Ms. Evelyn.

“What are you thinking?” Aster asked her friend, sitting up from where she was mortaring in her line of bricks. 

“You like vegetables, don’t you?” Alec questioned, clearly thinking deeply.

The next evening, he brought a rough picture of a raised bed made from the same red bricks. Four of them with a walkway in between and fenced in with a chainlink fence and they would have a vegetable garden not to be sneezed at.

Ellie and Libbie “helped” Alec to construct the chainlink fence, running after him with his tools and pieces of hardware. Aster watched from her place, still laying brick, and smiled softly as her daughters toddled after the big man, wanting to help him.

While Alec labored over the vegetable garden, building up the raised beds, Aster oversaw workers pouring concrete into the bricked driveway. It would be great for the girls to rollerskate on this one day.

Speaking of her girls. “Libbie! Ellie!” She called when the concrete had been poured. “Come put your handprints in!”

Libbie and Ellie scampered over from Alec’s side. Alerted by the calls, so did King, Duke, and Prince. The dogs gathered around Aster and her daughters and barked at the concrete. Dum dums.

Aster scratched their ears as Libbie and Ellie giggled, putting their little hands into the concrete and laughing as they pulled them away covered in light gray muck that quickly dried into a crumbly coating.

“Come on, Pince.” Libbie gripped the black lab’s paw and pulled him to press his paw beside her handprint. “You too.”

“Duck too!” Ellie gripped the golden lab’s paw as well.

“Careful, girls!” Aster warned as the dogs snatched back their paws as soon as they had left their marks.

“King! King has to mark!” Libbie demanded of the chocolate lab.

Ellie looked over at Alec. “’Lec and Mommy too!”

Alec chuckled, standing up and coming through the chainlink gate. “How can I refuse?”

Aster shrugged and sighed, bending down. 

Four handprints and three pawprints glowed in the evening light as the sun set behind the trees across the street. The two larger handprints were made with the opposite hands, leaning in towards each other.

Aster contracted a wall for the two tiers out instead of trying to do it on her own. It took a crew of ten men two weeks to build up a matching brick wall for the tiers and to finish hacking out and hauling away the juniper bushes. 

Aster and Alec planted rose bushes and bulb flowers in the border gardens and around most of the trees. Once again, however, the rhubarb crowns they planted around the Sycamore were Alec’s idea.

They finished getting the bulbs tucked down into the ground in anticipation of Spring just before the first snowfall. Libbie and Ellie were three and growing fast. It was the end of the jogging stroller’s usefulness. Still, like the beautiful Stingray- that was still sitting under a cover in the garage- Aster couldn’t bear to part with it. Alec helped her wrestle it up into the attic, folded down and wrapped in a duffle bag.

Aster replaced the jogging stroller with a bicycle and a trailer that could be dragged behind it. Libbie and Ellie had their first proper tricycles as well. Alec, ever the goofy type, brought Aster a bicycle built for two that Christmas. 

The little family began going on nature hikes and bike trips, up and down the mountain that overlooked their city and near the Rio Grande.

With most of the heavy lifting in their back and front yards finished up by the contractors, Aster had only to decide what to plant on the new tiers. She decided to keep the smoothly polished, colorful river stones that the old owner had laid, and planted sour and sweet cherry trees and ornamental plums with their dark purple leaves at intervals. They would have more cherries than they ever could use one day, but for now the young trees merely waved their tender branches in the wind and the birds slept in them.

Ms. Evelyn watched them work and play together, listening to the girls as they chattered about Alec and his three dogs, and humming to herself as she watched their relationship strengthen.


	10. Quick Changes

One day in summer, the four decided to go to the pool. While Libbie and Ellie splashed on top of floating noodles, Alec turned to Aster. “Does it ever feel like we’ve skipped something?” 

“What do you mean?” Aster questioned, turning in the cool, silky water.

“Well, we settled so easily into this routine.” He explained. “And I know we have some kind of relationship, but I feel like somehow, we’ve managed to settle into being parents together without ever having the romance that comes before.”

Aster opened her mouth to reply, thought, and closed it again. Then, she looked at their two daughters, clutching their noodles- not far at all- and within reach of the wall. “I think you’re right.” Primus knew she hadn’t intended to. “What should we do about it?”

Alec treaded to her side, watching Ellie splash Libbie and giggle when Libbie splashed back. “I… You know I try to keep my hauls local, but sometimes I have to take one farther. There’s a city in Texas called San Antonio. It’s quite a drive, but it’s a beautiful place, and… and it’s a romantic one too.”

“What are you asking me, Alec?” Aster murmured softly.

“I- I want you to come with me. To San Antonio, alone, and spend time with me. I want us to have a chance to see if we can be a couple, if we would be good together, for each other, and not just for our girls.”

“…That sounds wonderful, Alec. I would need some time to prepare.”

“I understand. We can talk about it later.” Alec kissed her cheek, lips still warm and slightly chapped, beard both silky and scratchy. Aster shivered slightly and it had nothing to do with the cool water.

 

Starscream, of course, was mentally panicking. Aster was not designed to interface with a human. Not yet, at least. He dedicated quite some time that evening to researching human interfacing traditions and the equipment required. 

It was not easy to build. He had to choose his materials carefully, design a self-lubricating surface, line it with calipers and nodes to squeeze just right, and all this with the fact that Alec had likely seen/touched/joined with a human female before. Aster’s interfacing equipment had to be real enough to fool an experienced human male, and that was nothing to sneeze at.

Of course, Aster stalled for time with Alec while Starscream worked, but it would only work so long. Alec was patient and kind, but he would begin to see that something was wrong if they waited too long. They decided on the last weekend in September and Starscream was on a deadline.

He thought he had an array finished just two weeks before they were scheduled together. His servos were trembling with nerves as he installed it into Aster. And then, then he became nervous. What if it wasn’t correct? What if Alec realized it was fake? He had to test it somehow.

He had to find another human to interface with. One he could dispose of with ease.

Aster left Libbie and Ellie with Ms. Evelyn on a Wednesday night. The middle aged woman was going to look after them while Aster and Alec were down in San Antonio and was looking forwards to it with smug mischief in her eyes.

With that, Aster changed her blonde hair for black, took on a darker skin tone, and slipped into the more “exciting” part of Albuquerque.

She found a nightclub with flashing lights and dark shadows and went up to the bar, leaning on it and ordering a drink. It wasn’t much to look at and the music was loud. But there were young men leaning on the bar, and it didn’t take long for one to approach her. They made flirty small talk until he laughed and said. “Chica, let’s take this somewhere nicer.”

“Of course.” Aster agreed and let him lead her to his car.

She left his dorm room a few hours later, retrieved her honda, and went home to retrieve her daughters, satisfied that she could convince Alec of her own humanity, though she doubted she would particularly enjoy their interface for itself. The fumbling the human had done over her had not inspired her to passion or overload, perhaps because of their conflicting biology.


	11. San Antonio

On Friday evening, Alec drove up in his pick-up, the three dogs in the back. When it came to vehicles, Aster had put her foot down. They were driving in her roomy Odyssey with plenty of music and audio books.

“I’ll drive first. You can rest.” Aster told Alec as they loaded their two suitcases into the back of her car.

“All right.” Alec agreed. “When I get behind the wheel, I’ll be good for the rest of the night.”

Libbie and Ellie ran from Ms. Evelyn’s side yard. “Alec!” They leapt into his arms. “Can we come? Why can’t we come?”

“Maybe next time, darlings.” Alec kissed their heads. “But you’ll have plenty of fun with Ms. Evelyn. I hear she’s going to help you make your Halloween costumes!”

“That we are. While I’m at it, I might dress up your three.” Ms. Evelyn followed after the little girls and stroked the three dogs’ noses. “All right, get down from there, you big sillies.” Prince, Duke, and King obliged her, jumping down and wagging their tails as they nosed the pocket they knew had treats.

“Mind your manners.” Alec scolded them, sighing. “All right, girls, say good-bye to your mother.” He let them down and Aster hugged them as well.

“Bye-bye, mommy.” Ellie laid her head on her mother’s breast and cuddled her. 

Libbie squirmed, still not mollified. “But why can’t we come?”

“Alec and Mommy need some alone time, darlings.” Aster kissed each. “I love you. We’ll bring back presents.”

“Please!” Libbie squealed, hugged and kissed her mother, and then wiggled, wanting to be put down. All through this, Ellie rested long-sufferingly against Aster. The twins’ very different personalities never ceased to amuse their mother.

Alec nodded to Ms. Evelyn, having given her some last minute advice on King, who had stepped on a piece of glass and cut his paw, then turned to Aster and the girls. “Aster?”

“Time to go? Ready.” Aster kissed the two again and set them on their feet. “Good bye. I love you.”

“Wuv ju!” Ellie squeezed her knee and went to stand with Ms. Evelyn and Libbie.

Aster took the driver’s seat and pulled out of the drive, slowly inching out of the cul-de-sac and down the hill.

“First time you’ve left them alone for a weekend?” Alec asked knowingly. 

“First time it wasn’t caused by work.” Aster sighed. 

“If you’re not sure…”

“No, no, this is a good thing. A mom should have a weekend off occasionally.” Aster waved it off. “I’ll just… Have to make sure to call them and make sure they’re tucked in.”

“Of course.” Alec leaned back in his seat and pulled his baseball cap over his sparkling blue eyes. “Well, if you have this, I’ll rest up for my shift. Go ahead and put on some music. I can sleep on a train tracks and not hear the train.”

“I hope you don’t mean that literally.” Aster replied, reaching forwards to start in on the Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien.

Alec chuckled. “Of course not.” His snoring provided a humming background noise beneath the narrator’s voice as Aster was whisked off to the hole in the hillside. 

 

At about ten o’clock, they switched off and by breakfast, they were in San Antonio.

The first thing that struck Aster were the buildings. Downtown Albuquerque- no matter how ritzy it could be- did not have such towering skyscrapers.

Alec had Aster’s camera strung around his neck and was taking pictures. “What do you want for breakfast?”

“Don’t we have to check in?” Aster had re-taken the wheel.

“They won’t mind if we’re a little late. I had to pay in advance.” Alec tapped the envelope with their room number and receipt. “So it’s not like they can just give the room away.”

“Well, I don’t see anything that’s particularly appealing, so let’s just go to the room and look up what’s in the area on my laptop.” Aster replied.

“All right. Take a left then.” Alec guided her to the hotel and they found the parking garage. “Right behind this row of buildings and down a flight of stairs and you’ll be on the Riverwalk.” He assured Aster as they entered the building. “And from there… well, it certainly took me more than a weekend to explore it all.”

“I can’t wait. I’m going to do all my Christmas shopping while we’re here, so you’ll have to show me where we can find something unique.” Aster smiled at the beautifully decorated lobby. The sound of trickling water emanated from a small fountain styled after a natural stream that flowed down into a koi pond floating with hyacinths and waterlilies. 

“Of course.” Alec promised. “Though how about a few hours’ rest together first?”

“I hoped to be seduced better than that.” Aster shot him a scolding look.

“Oh, I haven’t begun to seduce you yet.” Alec purred, showing his receipt and driver’s license to the clerk. Aster picked up a menu and ordered them room service, briefly consulting Alec on what he wanted. 

Aside from an amazing view of the Riverwalk, the room had a vase of real flowers on the table beside the largest, most luxurious King-Sized bed Aster had ever seen. In spite of himself, Starscream began to feel more and more swayed. Nothing turned the pleasure-loving Seeker on more than being pampered and it was clear Alec was coming through on his promises for this weekend.

“Well, this is certainly nice.” Aster’s body was incapable of feeling the bone-deep ache that humans felt after long periods in one position, but she would fake it if it meant curling up in the lap of luxury for just a little bit as the sun climbed into the sky. While Alec was settling their luggage in the closet, Aster pushed off her travel clothes onto the floor and slipped between the sheets.

“After breakfast and a bit of a lie-in, I was hoping to show you Villa-“ His optics traveled from the lump where Aster was covered by the thick, tan and burgundy blanket, to the pile of clothes on the floor.

“See something you like?” Aster purred from the plush cushions.

“Well, I get the feeling I will, as soon as I get rid of this thing covering it.” Alec purred right back and reached up to his collared plaid shirt, opening the first three buttons with ease.

“Hmm. Perhaps you should.” Aster smirked and turned away slightly.

There was a knock on the door. Aster closed her eyes and sighed in frustration. “That will probably be breakfast.”

“I’ll let them bring the cart in, then come back.” Alec left the bedroom, buttoning his shirt back up.

Aster flopped onto her back and waited. It felt like an eternity before Alec returned. Aster’s frame was already heating and her array lubricating. It was clear that both the avatar and human were ready for this, why wouldn’t life just let them have it?

Alec came back in. “Where were we?” He shrugged.

“You were convincing me to let you see something very nice indeed.” Aster sat up slightly to get a better view as Alec began popping open his shirt buttons again.

“Oh, of course.” Alec purred again. “How could I forget?” He took hold of his shirt and flared it open like a cape revealing his muscular torso. He was toned from years in the military, but it had softened. Still, he was built like the truck he drove, a massive wall of muscle that revealed its power over time. Aster had seen that power when they were working together in her yard, breaking earth and laying brick, but she hadn’t experienced it for herself except in one, fleeting moment as he tossed her into the air at the finish line of the 10-k run. “Is this enough to convince you, or should I do a little more?” He wiggled his eyebrows at Aster, one hand running down his abs and stroking the bulge in his jeans.

“Hmm…” Aster paused. “Perhaps enough for a little more.” She cooed to herself, beckoning him forwards into the bed. Alec kicked his socks up as he climbed onto the berth with her. “Hello, handsome.”

“Hello, beautiful.” Alec smiled back. “I can’t believe how lucky I am.”

“Are you going to go all-out sap on me?” Aster’s smile became a smirk.

“Oh, of course, you know me. Sap of the week.” Alec dipped down to trace his lips over Aster’s, pressing them together. His tongue sneaked out and traced her lower lip, seeking entrance. Aster parted her lips, meeting Alec’s advance with her own as the trucker’s hands wandered over the covering, finding her breasts and squeezing gently.

As a Seeker, Starscream had been fascinated by Convoys. Their huge frames, massive servos and the odd differences between his own frame and theirs had been irresistible. His fellow Seekers had thought he had a condition, they didn’t understand how he could find something so different so beautiful.

Perhaps that was why Aster was so attracted to Alec: He was a working man, so very different from her intellectual gifts. His hands, rough from working, were still gentle and he didn’t shy from affection. He was honest about who he was and true. 

“It’s hardly fair that I’m not wearing anything and you have pants on.” Aster commented, hands wandering lower to trace the thick, leather belt. Briefly, she wondered if Alec would be an adventurous or tame lover. Perhaps a bit of both. 

“Of course.” Alec kissed her again and drew back, hands going to the brass buckle and undoing it, pulling it free of his jeans. He had to convince the zipper down over himself with care, but it was worth it to struggle for the slow reveal of his powerful thighs and impressive tent.

Aster sat up slightly for a better view, letting the comforter slide down, revealing one of her breasts, the pale, creamy skin and dark nipple. Alec’s sapphire eyes slid to it immediately, seeming to focus on her with the concentration of a sniper. 

He laid back down over her, lips on her shoulder and neck, beard scratching gently, creating an interesting tingling. To Starscream’s surprise, Aster was beginning to respond in more than a mechanical way and charge began creeping over him. Perhaps it was because Aster genuinely loved Alec, but his touch was electric.

Their lips met again, a little sloppier, a little more reckless. Alec was tugging at the comforter and Aster let it go. San Antonio was warm enough to make it suffocating anyway. Aster’s form, soft but toned, smooth skin over hard muscle, contrasted with Alec’s. The former Marine had calluses and scars as well as a generous covering of dark, curled hair. 

Alec pressed burning, electric kisses along Aster’s neck and down her torso. Paying special attention to her breasts, he suckled at her nipple and played with the other breast with his slightly rough hands. The catch and drag of his calluses only added to it. As he pressed on, lower, he ran the side of his face along her stomach, pricking the sensors there with his beard.

His tongue trailed between her swollen lips, parting them for a deep kiss. Even as Aster gasped and held her legs farther apart, Starscream winced. He hadn’t taken flavor into account when formulating Aster’s fluids, but it seemed acceptable. Alec certainly didn’t mention anything, just kept up his ministrations as Starscream found his frame charging. 

Aster began gasping and panting heavily as Alec’s tongue explored her, finding her secret places with an odd ease, perhaps long-practice. Aster found herself unreasonably envious of whomever Alec had lavished this kind of attention on before. She made a soft whining sound when Alec pressed a last kiss to her and moved back up her body to press kisses to her lips. The trucker reached out for the hygiene kit he had left on the bedside table and reached in, gripping a condom.

Aster kissed him deeply as he was putting himself together, lying between her legs. When they came together, it was electric. It had to be because of their emotional attachment, but Aster was responding heavily to Alec and Starscream could feel her overload coming.

It was difficult to hold the avatar for a few moments as they both reached completion, but Starscream managed, clinging to Alec and trembling in the aftershocks. Alec seemed surprised and satisfied as well. He gently lay her on the mattress and lay beside her, arms wrapped around her waist. Aster wiggled one of her hands behind his head and pulled him in for another kiss.

“I love you.” Alec whispered, kissing her gently.

“… I love you too.” Aster whispered back and knew it was true.


	12. Chapter 12

They returned home together at the end of a beautiful weekend and were married soon after. Starscream spent more time than ever as Aster, skiving off of work or doing it at night while hiding Aster’s frame in a closet. He wove a clever tale for Alec about damage from carrying the twins preventing him from having another child.

Of course, Starscream’s beautiful life could never last. When Ellie and Libbie were about eight, the illusion came crashing down. 

“…The human establishment known as Sandia Labs has created a prototype weapon. We are going to confiscate it.” Megatron dropped that announcement in Starscream’s lap the moment he exited his quarters. “Marshal the Seekers. We move within the hour.”

Starscream had a miniature panic attack. “Of course, Lord Megatron.” On his way to prepare his men, he opened his comm line to Alec’s cell phone. “Alec.”

“Aster? What is it, darling?”

“Alec, get the girls from school, take them and leave! Just go! Get out of the city, pronto!”

“What’s happening, Aster?”

“I can’t tell you. Classified. But you have to go, now. I’ll meet you somewhere- say Lubbock? That should be far enough.”

“…I love you, Aster. See you in Lubbock.”

“I love you too.” Starscream hung up, spark pounding. His girls and husband would be safe. He had kept them safe. 

But the pit in the bottom of his fuel tank refused to go away. He was in too deep, too far. He had saved Alec, Ellie, and Libbie today, but what about tomorrow? Humans were infinitely fragile. There were a thousand ways they could die. 

The attack on Sandia Labs was a wake-up call. Aster did not exist, not as a human, and her life was a grand lie, constructed with well-meaning intentions, but a lie nevertheless.

He would have to tell the truth, so he could remember his family this way, instead of what they would inevitably become. Alec’s face would line, his muscle deteriorate, his bones grow fragile. He would slowly wither before Aster’s unchanging eyes while her daughters grew up and aged as well. 

Starscream didn’t want to remember that.

He also didn’t want his family to remember him as the Decepticon enemy. So, he called Alec to come to a place outside of Lubbock, alone.

“Aster!” Alec charged over the rise from where he had left his semi and hugged her. “We heard about the Labs being attacked. I thought you might be hurt…”

“I’m fine.” Aster hugged him back. “But I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?” Alec cupped her face.

“You don’t know me. Not the real me. This, Aster, is a disguise. I thought- I thought I could spend my life with you and my daughters, but I can’t. I have to go.”

“Why?”

“Alec, Aster isn’t real. I’m a different person. I’m not even really from your world. I do love you, and I’ve left all of the money I earned as a human in our shared account. I know you’ll take good care of our girls.”

“Aster-“

“No, Alec, I really can’t stay.” Aster sighed and Starscream called back his holomatter avatar, letting Aster’s empty frame slump in his arms. With a vent, he transformed and stood up from his hiding place, letting Alec see him as he was. “I’m sorry.”

Alec gaped at him, open-mouthed, and Starscream turned away. “Good bye, Alec.”

The sound of a second transformation cog played through the night and a deep voice called after him. “Wait, Aster.”

Starscream slowly turned back and found himself staring across the moonlit field at the Autobot Commander. “…Optimus Prime?”

“Yes.” Optimus reached out for him. “Though you know me as Alec.”


End file.
